15 may

Everyday I see the matrimandir from the hostel balconies and wonder at its beauty. Today I got to know the significance of it, the thought process involved and the effort that went into it. I always wondered why Auroville is located where it is? What is so significant in that place? Meera told me the story why Mother chose Auroville to be in India and in Tamil Nadu. India has always been tolerant and has accepted religions, cultures, and people of all multitudes over many centuries. People have always been spiritually inclined rather than be materially obsessed. No country but India could be capable of accepting this kind of an idea as Auroville where people of different backgrounds could come together to work towards a better future. Mother had a vision of the place where Auroville is today. Though she was never physically there but she saw everything. At the very centre of the place was to be built the matrimandir. But there stood a lone banyan tree which pleaded the mother to let it live. So the matrimandir was shifted a bit from the physical centre but remains as a spiritual centre of Auroville. This story really touched me. This place when started was barren, it was a desert. Mother chose it because no more degradation could happen here. So only thing that could happen was to flourish and blossom.

Today when I see the huge trees here and a jungle, its hard to believe that at this very place nothing grew. Hats off to the efforts of aurovilians who have come so far and yet have a long journey to undertake.